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How long can you go without riding?
5 years ago
Thursday, January 28, 2010
How long can you go without riding?
I've been sick since Saturday. I did manage to sit on Armani on Sunday. It was only for 15 minutes. He was fresh and I was coughing and sneezing. Since then I've been too sick. It is now Wednesday.
It has been raining and icy all week, which rather reflects how I feel. I try to ride every day and not miss more than a day at a time. But this is the first time I've been sick in a while. Still I harbor massive amounts of guilt for missing time.
How long can you go without riding?
How long can you go without riding?
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Training: 2 exercises for lengthening on a cob horse
Armani is a cobby, baroque built horse. He finds lengthening challenging. But lateral work comes naturally. So our instructor has given us these two exercises. They introduce lengthening through lateral work.
Exercise 1: Shoulder-in to Lengthening
1) Ridden at the Trot
2) K-E. Sitting Trot. Shoulder in down half of the arena.
3) E-M. Rising trot. Straighten horse. Then ask him to lengthen his stride.
Exercise 2: 8 meter circle to Lengthening
1) Ridden at Trot
2) H. Rising or sitting. 8 meter circle in the corner. Establish a lot of bend. Work on getting the inside hind swinging under his body.
3) H-F. Rising trot. Straighten horse. Then ask him to lengthen his stride.
You are back around to where you started. You can go back to Exercise 1 if you wish.
Exercise 1: Shoulder-in to Lengthening
1) Ridden at the Trot
2) K-E. Sitting Trot. Shoulder in down half of the arena.
3) E-M. Rising trot. Straighten horse. Then ask him to lengthen his stride.
1) Ridden at Trot
2) H. Rising or sitting. 8 meter circle in the corner. Establish a lot of bend. Work on getting the inside hind swinging under his body.
3) H-F. Rising trot. Straighten horse. Then ask him to lengthen his stride.
You are back around to where you started. You can go back to Exercise 1 if you wish.
A new year, steady progress
A new year has dawned. Armani and I make slow, but steady progress. His training continued with our instructor while I took time off during my late Baby Cat's passing.
Armani is a very cobby, baroque horse. He can move his feet quickly and dance on a dime. So collected and lateral work come naturally. His canter is his best gait, followed by walk, though his trot is nice. But lengthening trot and bending are more of a challenge.
As he builds strength, he is becoming a peacock. More than one person has told me they spotted him passaging and leaping around the pasture - through the snow - ruffling his mane in the air - while he hoots at mares, naturally. Apparently he thinks he's Fabio. Silly little man.
Armani is a very cobby, baroque horse. He can move his feet quickly and dance on a dime. So collected and lateral work come naturally. His canter is his best gait, followed by walk, though his trot is nice. But lengthening trot and bending are more of a challenge.
As he builds strength, he is becoming a peacock. More than one person has told me they spotted him passaging and leaping around the pasture - through the snow - ruffling his mane in the air - while he hoots at mares, naturally. Apparently he thinks he's Fabio. Silly little man.
Thursday, December 31, 2009
Friday, December 18, 2009
So this is a horse blog right?
If it seems like I'm on a cat rant lately, that's because I am. But Armani thinks he deserves a mention. It is his blog.
While Baby was sick I spent 2 weeks away from the barn to nurse her. (...I also burned almost all my vaccation time for 2010.) It was the longest Armani and I had been apart. Armani was ridden by his trainer and was reportedly good... at first...
She called me a few times to ask how the cat was. "How's Armani?" I asked.
"Oh, don't worry about him." Hmm, ominous?
...I tried hard not to. When I got back to the barn finally, I had to pry the whole story out.
Armani makes hay
First, Armani apparently made hay at a lesson. Another Grand Prix trainer had asked to borrow Armani once a week for her students. Evidently his last lesson was cut short because of erratic behavior.
Armani declares war
Armani did not leave a fence untouched. He went on an unabashed board breaking, fence jumping, gate unlatching spree. Most uncharacteristically, he even left his dinner behind when he ran wild.
Armani is unrepentant
2 weeks later, I returned. Armani squealed and raced to the gate. He began working at the latch. "Hang on, Stinker!"
He danced around in the crossties. "Settle, settle..." I softly intoned. He completely disregarded my advice. He tried to follow me into the tack room. The crossties snapped, swung about. He knocked my trainer's saddle off the rack.
Back in the saddle, "It's not like riding a bicycle." I mused. I had my period. I felt out of sync. It was a windy, snowy day. Armani was high as a kite. He leapt at every gust. He carreened toward walls. He snorted. He stomped. He spun. He flew.
Armani decided the indoor arena was a gladiator arena. For 3 days I struggled through his airs-above-ground. "He sure has gotten stronger."
I was frustrated. Armani needs a steady hand. I knew it was my fault for having been gone so long. But I couldn't have neglected Baby.
Armani reforms himself, a bit...
Then I was invited to go on a trail ride. My companions were a 80 year old lady on a quarter horse and a close friend on a 4 year old. In such company, Armani was expected to be a seasoned leader.
Armani rose to the occasion - sort of. Actually he grumbled and grunted for the whole ride. But that was his only display of defiance. We rode through wood and field, through 2 feet of dense snow, for over an hour. The ladies had a wonderful time. After we got back I gave him a massage and treats.
The next day it was back to the gladiator arena.
While Baby was sick I spent 2 weeks away from the barn to nurse her. (...I also burned almost all my vaccation time for 2010.) It was the longest Armani and I had been apart. Armani was ridden by his trainer and was reportedly good... at first...
She called me a few times to ask how the cat was. "How's Armani?" I asked.
"Oh, don't worry about him." Hmm, ominous?
...I tried hard not to. When I got back to the barn finally, I had to pry the whole story out.
Armani makes hay
First, Armani apparently made hay at a lesson. Another Grand Prix trainer had asked to borrow Armani once a week for her students. Evidently his last lesson was cut short because of erratic behavior.
Armani declares war
Armani did not leave a fence untouched. He went on an unabashed board breaking, fence jumping, gate unlatching spree. Most uncharacteristically, he even left his dinner behind when he ran wild.
Armani is unrepentant2 weeks later, I returned. Armani squealed and raced to the gate. He began working at the latch. "Hang on, Stinker!"
He danced around in the crossties. "Settle, settle..." I softly intoned. He completely disregarded my advice. He tried to follow me into the tack room. The crossties snapped, swung about. He knocked my trainer's saddle off the rack.
Back in the saddle, "It's not like riding a bicycle." I mused. I had my period. I felt out of sync. It was a windy, snowy day. Armani was high as a kite. He leapt at every gust. He carreened toward walls. He snorted. He stomped. He spun. He flew.
Armani decided the indoor arena was a gladiator arena. For 3 days I struggled through his airs-above-ground. "He sure has gotten stronger."
I was frustrated. Armani needs a steady hand. I knew it was my fault for having been gone so long. But I couldn't have neglected Baby.
Armani reforms himself, a bit...
Then I was invited to go on a trail ride. My companions were a 80 year old lady on a quarter horse and a close friend on a 4 year old. In such company, Armani was expected to be a seasoned leader.
Armani rose to the occasion - sort of. Actually he grumbled and grunted for the whole ride. But that was his only display of defiance. We rode through wood and field, through 2 feet of dense snow, for over an hour. The ladies had a wonderful time. After we got back I gave him a massage and treats.
The next day it was back to the gladiator arena.
Vaccine-associated sarcoma in cats
Daisy made a very good point in comments, which is that there is a risk of vaccine-associated sarcoma in cats (read more...). It's good for cat parents to know about this risk. Our vet does vaccines in a leg, because that is easier to remove if a sarcoma develops. In our state, a rabies vaccine is required for cats, but nothing else. Keeping your kitty indoors can protect them from FeLV and other communicable diseases. Our cats are all indoors and only go out on supervised leash walks.
Thursday, December 17, 2009
More about Leukemia in cats
We got Baby Scout's ashes back yesterday. We are having a very hard time accepting her death. A few weeks before she was vibrant, healthy and active.
Here is some more info to go with this post about leukemia in cats.
Confusion
It's hard to find info about leukemia in cats because most results on Google are for Feline Leukemia Virus (FeLV) - which is a misnomer, it's a retro-virus, like HIV, not cancer itself, though it is suspected that it can cause cells to become cancerous.
Baby didn't have the virus. Baby had leukemia the cancer on its own. I got a little sad yesterday because I was telling someone and they scolded "Oh, well you should have vaccinated your cat!", implying I was neglectful and deserved it. I had to explain that it wasn't the same thing - but I'm not sure they believed me. It hurt because my husband and I treated Baby like she was our own baby. She couldn't have been more protected and pampered with care. Still I resisted my urge to slug this person. After all, if I thought someone failed to vaccinate a cat, wouldn't I "tsk tsk" too? I've been wondering if I should just tell people she died of "cancer" and leave it at that.
Info on standalone Leukemia in cats
There's two types of Leukemia, acute and chronic. Lots of subsets of each.
1) Chronic hits older animals, but is much slower, more treatable and the symptoms can be more subtle.
2) Acute usually strikes the young to middle aged and healthy. It kills very quickly. Based on Baby's health beforehand, symptoms such as very large, immature blasts, the extreme severity, and very sudden onset, I think she very clearly had Acute. The prognosis for this is "bad" as I highlighted below. Autopsy revealed it had already spread to her spleen.
A good plain-English article on Leukemia in cats and dogs
A more medical article on Leukemia in cats with photos of blood cells
Here is some more info to go with this post about leukemia in cats.
Confusion
It's hard to find info about leukemia in cats because most results on Google are for Feline Leukemia Virus (FeLV) - which is a misnomer, it's a retro-virus, like HIV, not cancer itself, though it is suspected that it can cause cells to become cancerous.
Baby didn't have the virus. Baby had leukemia the cancer on its own. I got a little sad yesterday because I was telling someone and they scolded "Oh, well you should have vaccinated your cat!", implying I was neglectful and deserved it. I had to explain that it wasn't the same thing - but I'm not sure they believed me. It hurt because my husband and I treated Baby like she was our own baby. She couldn't have been more protected and pampered with care. Still I resisted my urge to slug this person. After all, if I thought someone failed to vaccinate a cat, wouldn't I "tsk tsk" too? I've been wondering if I should just tell people she died of "cancer" and leave it at that.
Info on standalone Leukemia in cats
There's two types of Leukemia, acute and chronic. Lots of subsets of each.
1) Chronic hits older animals, but is much slower, more treatable and the symptoms can be more subtle.
2) Acute usually strikes the young to middle aged and healthy. It kills very quickly. Based on Baby's health beforehand, symptoms such as very large, immature blasts, the extreme severity, and very sudden onset, I think she very clearly had Acute. The prognosis for this is "bad" as I highlighted below. Autopsy revealed it had already spread to her spleen.
A good plain-English article on Leukemia in cats and dogs
Therapy and prognosis for the different types of leukemia are quite different. ALL tends to have a very poor prognosis, and affected animals often succumb to secondary infection.... Unfortunately, pets with ALL often die within days to months of diagnosis.
A more medical article on Leukemia in cats with photos of blood cells
Although there are many similarities between the human and animal forms of the disease, the clinical course and outcome are very different. The prognosis with chemotherapy treatment is poor in canine and feline patients, and the average survival time is only a few months. Untreated, the estimated survival time from diagnosis is less than two weeks
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